Viewing Hamilton’s work made me think about a popular southern euphemism, “you smell like outside.” Me being the nerd I am, I theorized it as a framework for thinking about southern black folks’ agency and its connection to the outdoors.Continue reading →

SUPER EXCITED to share that my first book and collection of short stories, Boondock Kollage: Stories from the Hip Hop South, is available for PRE-ORDER! You can peep the cover below. Isn’t it gorgeous? Many thanks to John Jennings for bringing my cover to life.

Hey Ya! Armstrong State University has added a new course to the Spring 2017 class list. “OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South” will be taught by Dr. Regina Bradley Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11–12:15 p.m.

Dr. Regina Bradley is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at ASU. Currently, she is teaching Literature and the Humanities, Survey of African American Literature and Black Women Writers.

Bradley believes that educational institutions need more contemporary renderings of the South.

“We’re stuck in outdated approaches and discussions of what is and what isn’t southern. I think it is important for students, both native and non-native southerners, to understand and study how the South has changed in the last 50 years,” she said.

Since OutKastwas the first Southern group to be nationally recognized as a hip-hop group…

Paul Beatty’s historic win as the first American to win the British Man Booker literary prize for his novel The Sellout made me think back to my initial introduction to Beatty’s work via The White Boy Shuffle. Written in 1996, The White Boy Shuffle remains a timely engagement of contemporary Black identity and cultural politics. Told from the perspective of Gunnar Kaufman, a Black boy living in 1990s Los Angeles, The White Boy Shuffle avoids romanticizing the Civil Rights Movement and its victories. Gunnar’s evolution from a token Black boy in the suburbs of Santa Monica, California to a hesitant Black messiah and poet from the fictional inner city community of Hillside is one of African American Literature’s initial forays into canonizing contemporary concerns around post-Civil Rights Black identities. Beatty’s novel uses humor to highlight and expound upon the peculiarities of Black folks living after the movement.

When I first heard about your telling of Nat Turner’s story in Birth of a Nation, I was excited. When it was picked up for major theatre release, I cheered. But when I heard you were a rapist or, if it is easier on your feelings, rape-ish, I gasped. That gasp turned to anger. And sir, as a rape survivor of over 20 years, I will not support your work.

Here’s the thing, Mr. Parker. Your response to why and how you ‘moved on’ past a rape allegation is selfish and troubling. You talked about your pain. You talked about your family. Your wife. Your daughters. You didn’t mention the trauma you caused a young woman. You didn’t mention how you terrorized a young woman or her violation. You didn’t even acknowledge the fact that this woman felt hurt, anger, fear, and hopelessness. You don’t realize or refuse to realize that she feared you to the point she took.her.own.life.

My question is what are you doing to rectify your wrongs and ‘accused’ wrongs? Are you saying (black) women’s names? Helping survivors tell their stories? Are you donating to charities and organizations that promote sexual consent education and anti-rape culture? Are you helping rape survivors? Helping sex trafficking victims? What are you doing to turn your ‘pain’ into a teachable moment that can help save another young woman (and man) from the pain and trauma you inflicted on her that she believed death was her only comfort?

Further, what part of the game is it that you can pick and choose which lives matter? Women are part of that freedom work you try to promote and convey to your audience, Mr. Parker. Do the work. Show your receipts.